First Day of Spring

Renatus employs about ten people on a full- and part-time basis.These fellows are painting crucifixes to meet the December 2016 demand.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. There have been a lot of challengers over the past year and this posting is long overdue!

But I am very happy to report that the AVPA is going well. In the past year, we have concentrated on our program of giving microcredit grants to small businesses in Okaseni Village. These grants allow the owners to expand their businesses and give jobs to other villagers.

The recipient of our very first business grant was Renatus Minja. He owns and operates a small foundry in the village, producing small household objects ( like irons and scales) from scrap aluminum. Recently, the demand for religious crucifixes has skyrocketed, and the grant we gave him in 2016 allowed him to buy materials he needed to fulfill the Christmas orders.

Our other grant recipient this year was Mama Marietta Mushi. She owns a small store in the village selling food, dry goods and drinks. With her grant, she has been able to start selling meat – an excellent choice for growing her business and a boon for the villagers.

Mama Mushi shows me the many goods she stocks in her store. It isthe only store in the village and sells many useful products for the villagers.

Mama Mushi also hired several villagers to help her with her new catering business to supply food for local parties and events. This is another wonderful example of the success of our business grants program – creating valuable jobs for the villagers.

We look forward to continuing to help the villagers this year as well. With your help, we can give more microcredit business grants to further self-sufficency in Okaseni. You can donate here on our website. Thanks so much as always for your support.